Urban development in the Dutch Delta system

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• Urban development in the Dutch Delta system
• October 22nd 2008
• Jeuf Spits
• Radboud University Nijmegen
• Centre for Sustainable Management of Resources

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National policy line Room for River (1995-2005)

• More Room for river
• No new building in floodplains

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Experiment conditions

• Flood adapted buildings
• More room for river
• Private budget
• 15 Locations

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National Policy guideline Large rivers (2006)

• Building in floodplains is possible in
  combination with more room for river.

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Conclusions

• Technical innovations are available
• Building in floodplains is feasible in
  combination with room for river
• Urban development seems to be the main financial
  motor for future river management
• Re-arrangement of the rules might be necessary to
  trigger entrepreneurs for building in floodplains

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Making urban development compatible with flood
risk ?

• The French and Dutch regulation systems and their
  local involvement. Cases in the valley of the
  Loire (France) and in the valley of the Meuse
  (the Netherlands)

Freude am Fluss Final conference Space for the
river, space for the people ? 22- 24 October
2008, Nijmegen
Serrano J., Amalric M., Andrieu D., Bernier S.,
Brinkhof T., Fournier M., Servain S., Spits J.,
Verdelli L., Wattenberg V., Yengue JL.
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Structural measures

• Loire River
• Strengthen of dikes
• Dams to control water level
• Limitation of the streaming

• Maas River
• Strengthen dikes
• Flood channels
• Displacement of dikes
• Increase of the river discharge capacity

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Non-structural measures

• Loire River
• Strict control of urban sprawl (Plan prévention
  risques inondation)
• Information of the population

• Maas River
• Restriction of building in flood plains
• Water management and spatial planning brought
  together
• New techniques of building

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Two different approaches of flood risk prevention

• France
• A small part of the territory concerned by floods
• Non structural measures dominant
• Separation between flood protection (State) and
  planning (local level)
• River is a threat
• Citites and rivers in separated places
• Municipalities negociate a dispensation

• The Netherlands
• Most part of the territory concerned by floods
• Structural measures dominant
• Integrated policy of water protection and
  planning (State level)
• River is inescapable
• Urban development must benefit to the river
• A global development strategy for the riverbeds

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Conclusion

• Defensive (France) vs. pro-active strategies (The
  Netherlands)
• In France urbanisation in flood prone areas will
  become more difficult
• In The Netherlands, flood prone areas are
  considered as real opportunities

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Freude am Fluss Final Conference Space for the
river, space for people? October 08
Living with Floods
Urban land use planning as a precautionary
instrument for damage prevention in
Germany Findings of a diploma thesis felix.drie
ssen_at_tu-dortmund.de
Felix Driessen, School of Spatial Planning
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Freude am Fluss Final Conference Space for the
river, space for people? October 08
Living with Floods
Living with water
Proposal protect but not paralyse Strategic
approach Find compromises between urban
development and flood protection Major
objective Avoid damages, but also use
floodplains profitable
Felix Driessen, School of Spatial Planning
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Freude am Fluss Final Conference Space for the
river, space for people? October 08
Living with Floods
Responsibility of municipality
Using floodplains profitable is rational ! But
Exposing values to floods is irrational ! Using
the floodplains profitable necessitates
responsibility ! Municipalities are responsible
because ... ... they decide about land use ...
they have the knowledge about the local
situation ... they enforce compulsory protection
norms
Felix Driessen, School of Spatial Planning
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Freude am Fluss Final Conference Space for the
river, space for people? October 08
Living with Floods
Legal basis
Binding land-use plan as an instrument of damage
prevention ... determine land use ...
determine the elevation of buildings ...
determine the vertical configuration of a
building ... determine design regulations to use
them as flood adaptation ordinances
Felix Driessen, School of Spatial Planning
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Freude am Fluss Final Conference Space for the
river, space for people? October 08
Living with Floods
Conclusions
Binding land-use plan as an instrument of damage
prevention ... determine binding protection
norms ... provide necessary knowledge to the
developer ... create risk awareness
Felix Driessen, School of Spatial Planning
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Urban riverfront development projectsQuality
and safety aspects considered by precedent
decision making processes

• Twan Brinkhof, MSc.

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Introduction
Twan Brinkhof
Urban riverfront developments
Why are urban riverfront developments important
to consider?

• Many urban riverfronts form a so called
  bottleneck for river discharge.

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Introduction
Twan Brinkhof
Urban riverfront developments

• Why are urban riverfront developments important
  to consider?

2) There seem to be competition between uncertain
safety aspects and ongoing interests such as a
need for an attractive living environment 3)
Expected increase in river flow due to climate
change and land use changes
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Quality values derived from Vitrivius(firmita
s, venustas and utilitas) Safety
Twan Brinkhof
Urban riverfront developments
Aspects
Quailty
Methodology
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Conclusions
Twan Brinkhof
Urban riverfront developments
All decision-makers involved believe their
project improves the overall quality of the area.
Flood risk reduction is in none of the projects
the primary goal Considering the user value
aspect of the urban riverfronts, decision makers
have the objective to improve the functionality
of the city front.
Conclusions